Crime news in brief

Possession of drugs
Benoni Flying Squad (BFS) members arrested three men in Ext 4 and 6, Ivory Park, and High Road, Brakpan.

They recovered heroin, meth and cocaine.

Business break-in
• BFS members helped arrest a man (27) suspected of theft on April 19 in Boksburg.

The business owner and private security members cornered the suspect on the premises. They found him with a bag containing vehicle parts, allegedly stolen from vehicles parked on the premises.

• Just after midnight on April 21, BFS officers received information that two suspects wanted in connection with a break-in at a warehouse in Kempton Park had been spotted at a diesel depot in Ext 1, Etwatwa West.

They arrested the suspects and recovered two vehicles. Both vehicles were previously reported as stolen and hijacked.

Armed robbery, assault and murder
Two men were arrested on the R554, Brakpan, on charges of armed robbery, assault, murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm on April 21 just after 20:00.

According to the BFS, Rapid Response Service (RRS) and the SAPS Water Police and Diving Services (WPDS) spokesperson, Warrant Officer Grant Giblin, officers were doing routine patrols when they found a seriously injured woman lying in the road.

“Suspecting it may be a hit-and-run incident, the officers stopped to offer assistance,” Giblin said.

“While attending to the victim, officers were approached by a man claiming he and the victim were robbed at gunpoint by two suspects.

“With the help of a private security member, the suspects were found walking down the road. They found a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol with the serial numbers filed off in their possession.”

The female victim died on the scene before medical services arrived.

SAPS Water Policing and Diving Services (WPDS)
• Members of the Sedibeng wing responded to a call at a stream next to the R550, Fochville, on April 12.

Witnesses allege a woman walked to the bank of the river where she committed suicide.

After a brief search, they recovered a Walter .22 calibre pistol with two live rounds from the stream.

• The body of a young girl was recovered from the Klip River on April 13. It is suspected she was murdered.

Investigations into the matter are underway.

• Members of the Johannesburg wing were deployed to the Loops River, Muldersdrift, after a drowning on April 14.

It is alleged a person drowned in the natural spring that joins the river during a baptism ceremony.

The victim’s body was recovered shortly after the divers’ arrival.

“Several lives have been lost during these ceremonies, and we appeal to the religious community to abstain from performing these rituals in rivers and springs,” said Giblin.

The public is urged not to hold dangerous activities near rivers, streams and dams.

Rapid Response Services (RRS)
From April 12 to 18, units operating under the RRS banner, including the Flying Squad, K9 units and Highway Patrol across Gauteng, arrested 116 suspects.

Fifty-six were arrested on charges of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, murder, intimidation, theft, possession of suspected stolen property, business robbery, tampering with essential infrastructure, robbery, malicious damage to property, contravention of a protection order, hijacking, sexual assault, domestic violence, corruption, kidnapping and contravening the immigration law.

Nine suspects were arrested on charges of being in possession of vehicles reported as hijacked or stolen, and 53 vehicles were recovered.

Nine unlicensed firearms were recovered accompanied by five arrests.

In a clamp down on drugs, 46 suspects were arrested on charges of being in possession of drugs with the intent to sell.

Heroin, dagga, cocaine, Mandrax and meth were confiscated.

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